The Trump administration has signaled favorability to AI developers in a number of ways, but its actual position on AI regulations will not be clear until sometime around the middle of this year. As federal agencies spend the initial six months coming up with a new “AI Action Plan” to replace a prior executive order, OpenAI and other developers are pushing for positions at the table.
To that end, OpenAI has drafted a set of proposals and submitted it to the White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP). Open to public viewing, the proposals focus on the competitive threat from China and the company’s desire to essentially put itself above copyright law in response. What the administration ultimately decides could be existential for OpenAI and other developers given how freely they have helped themselves to the available contents of the internet.
Pressured by state and European laws, OpenAI seeks a federal government shield
The proposal sees OpenAI invoking China as the central motivation for its requests for lighter AI regulations, but the company is under a variety of legal pressures that could be eased by federal relief. Hundreds of emerging US state laws and a number of lawsuits from copyright holders are among these, as the company also battles with regulators in Europe.
The Trump administration has sent up numerous pro-developer signals since it was still the Trump campaign, but its actual approach to AI regulations remains in development for several months. Starting from late January, OSTP and an assortment of relevant federal agencies have been tasked with forming an overarching “AI Action Plan” to replace the approach the Biden administration set up via executive order in late 2023. But it remains to be seen how far it will be willing to go on copyright issues. OpenAI has opened the negotiations by essentially asking for the moon and the stars, seeking special federal exemptions that allow it to train on whatever it can gather.
OpenAI, other firms scramble to exert pressure as AI regulations coalesce
Google and other major players have also issued position papers on AI regulations, but OpenAI may have a little more work ahead of it than others given the testy relationship (and ongoing lawsuit) between founder Sam Altman and Elon Musk. The company figures to be very heavily involved in the process regardless, given it is included in the planned “Stargate” infrastructure project and is about to receive a $40 billion investment from Softbank.
OpenAI claims that it needs looser AI regulations to speed up development time and stay ahead of China, specifically citing DeepSeek as an industry benchmark and a warning that the technical advantage the US enjoys could be negated before long. It also claims that some $175 billion in investment capital is floating around out there waiting for a suitable AI project, and the US must race to grab as much of that as possible or it will likely default to China.
In terms of its opening wish list for AI regulations, OpenAI essentially wants the large developers to have a “front door” to the federal government that shields it from state laws that are in the midst of development. It also seeks an information sharing partnership that would provide it with national security information and an almost blanket immunity from being taken to court over copyright issues related to its training.
